Palagia Victory of Samothrace
Transcript of Palagia Victory of Samothrace
8/10/2019 Palagia Victory of Samothrace
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/palagia-victory-of-samothrace 1/20
This PDF of your paper in Samothracian Connections belongs to
the publishers Oxbow Books and it is their copyright.
As author you are licenced to make up to 50 offprints from it, but
beyond that you may not publish it on the World Wide Web until
three years from publication (September 2013), unless the site is
a limited access intranet (password protected). If you have queries
about this please contact the editorial department at Oxbow Books
8/10/2019 Palagia Victory of Samothrace
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/palagia-victory-of-samothrace 2/20
James R. McCredie
(Photo Patrick Cardon)
SAMOTHRACIAN CONNECTIONS Essays in honor of James R. McCredie
Edited by
Olga Palagia and Bonna D. Wescoat
Published in collaboration with the American School of Classical Studies at Athens
Oxbow BooksOxford and Oakville
8/10/2019 Palagia Victory of Samothrace
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/palagia-victory-of-samothrace 3/20
Published by
Oxbow Books, Oxford, UK
© Oxbow Books and the individual authors 2010
ISBN 978-1-84217-970-3
This book is available direct from
Oxbow Books, Oxford, UK
(Phone: 01865-241249; Fax: 01865-794449)
and
The David Brown Book Company
PO Box 511, Oakville, CT 06779, USA
(Phone: 860-945-9329; Fax: 860-945-9468)
or from our website
www.oxbowbooks.com
A CIP record is available for this book from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Samothracian connections : essays in honor of James R. McCredie / edited by by Olga Palagia and Bonna D. Wescoat.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-84217-970-3 (hbk.)
1. Samothrace Island (Greece)--Antiquities. 2. Sanctuary of the Great Gods (Greece) 3. Excavations (Archaeology)--Greece-
-Samothrace Island. 4. Island archaeology--Greece--Samothrace Island. 5. Art, Greek--Greece--Samothrace Island--History. 6.
Architecture, Greek--Greece--Samothrace Island--History. 7. Alexandria (Egypt)--Antiquities. 8. Phlorina (Greece)--Antiquities.
9. McCredie, James R. 10. Classicists--United States--Biography. I. Palagia, Olga. II. Wescoat, Bonna D. III. McCredie, James
R.
DF261.S3S26 2010
939’.11--dc22
2010033760
Front cover: Sanctuary of the Great Gods, looking north. Back cover: Jim McCredie and “Sylvester”.
(Photos Bonna D. Wescoat)
Printed in Great Britain by
Short Run Press, Exeter
8/10/2019 Palagia Victory of Samothrace
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/palagia-victory-of-samothrace 4/20
Contents
Editors’ Preface v
Contributors vi
1. James R. McCredie and the American School of Classical Studies at Athens 1
Irene Bald Romano
2. James R. McCredie and the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University 3
Mariët Westermann and Patricia Rubin
3. James R. McCredie and Samothracian Architecture 5
Bonna D. Wescoat
4. Problems in Island Archaeology: Towards an Archaeology of Religion on Samothrace 33
Dimitris Matsas
5. Apollo Arrives at Samothrace 50
Mary B. Moore
6. Moldmade Bowls at Samothrace 60
Susan I. Rotroff
7. “Up Against the Wall”: Anta Design in the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on Samothrace 74
Bonna D. Wescoat
8. Choroi, Theōriai and International Ambitions: The Hall of Choral Dancers and its Frieze 106
Clemente Marconi
9. A New Ceiling for the Hieron in the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on Samothrace 136
Amy A. Sowder
10. The Victory of Samothrace and the Aftermath of the Battle of Pydna 154
Olga Palagia
11. Marble Votive Statuettes of Women from the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on Samothrace 165 Sheila Dillon
12. A Marble Krater from Samothrace 173
Jasper Gaunt
13. L. Calpurnius Piso: Greece and Herculaneum 179
Carol C. Mattusch
14. Maroneia Honors Q. Lutatius Catulus in Samothrace 186
Kevin Clinton and Nora Dimitrova
15. An Inscription on Roman Samothrace 193
Robert L. Pounder
8/10/2019 Palagia Victory of Samothrace
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/palagia-victory-of-samothrace 5/20
iv Contents
16. The Conservation Program in the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on Samothrace 199
Stephen P. Koob
17. A Fayum Teacher’s Manual, Alexandrian Pavilion Architecture, and Augustan Wall-painting 211
R. R. R. Smith
18. Homer in Florina 222
Ioannis Akamatis
Colleagues and Students who worked with James R. McCredie on Samothrace, 1962–2008 241
8/10/2019 Palagia Victory of Samothrace
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/palagia-victory-of-samothrace 6/20
Editor’s Preface
Our honoree, James (Jim) R. McCredie, was born on New Year’s Eve in Chicago, and grew up in Elgin, Illinois.
He was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy and graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University. He
received his PhD from Harvard as well. As a graduate student he participated in eld seasons at Gordion
and Sardis in Turkey, and Porto Rafti, Attica, in Greece. An appropriate prelude to what became his life’s
work on Samothrace was his participation in the excavation of the 3rd-century B.C. Ptolemaic military camp
at Koroni in Attica and the subsequent publication of his dissertation, Fortifed Military Camps in Attica
( Hesperia Supplement XI, 1966). This monograph is a pioneering contribution to the history and archaeology
of Athens and Attica in the 3rd century B.C. It revised the history of the Chremonidean War and occasioned
the down-dating of Attic black glaze pottery by about twenty years.In 1962 McCredie transferred his commitment to the northern Aegean, where he joined the Samothracian
team rst as eld director for Phyllis Williams Lehmann. In 1966 he became director. Over the course of
nearly half a century of research he has contributed to the discovery and study of the most signicant aspects
of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods of Samothrace.
McCredie taught classical archaeology at the Institute of Fine Arts in New York from 1963 until his
appointment as director of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens in 1969, a post he held until
1977. In 1978 he returned to the Institute of Fine Arts as Professor, and became its director from 1983 to
2002. He trained several generations of graduate students of art, archaeology and conservation, both in the
classroom and on Samothrace. Under his directorship the Institute experienced a veritable golden age of Greek
archaeology, when a brilliant cast of Institute professors, curators of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and
visiting European scholars offered seminars on a wide range of subjects. The American School of ClassicalStudies, the Institute of Fine Arts and the Samothrace excavations have proted from his sharp mind, his
generosity, his organizational skills and the inspiration he provided to younger colleagues and students. The
number of students and colleagues who participated in research and excavations during McCredie’s tenure as
director at Samothrace is striking testimony to his reach across the eld of classical archaeology. Their names
appear at the end of this volume. McCredie’s long involvement with the Institute of Fine Arts, the American
School of Classical Studies at Athens, and with the Samothrace excavations are discussed in separate essays
of this volume.
In addition to being an honorary citizen of Samothrace, honorary member of the Archaeological Society
of Athens, and the recipient of a gold medal of the Pan-Samothracian Hearth of Athens, McCredie holds an
honorary degree from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
The volume in hand is a collection of essays on the archaeology and epigraphy of Samothrace, Macedoniaand Alexandria by colleagues and pupils paying tribute to McCredie’s lifetime of devotion to the Sanctuary
of the Great Gods and the inuences that shaped it. The authors have all worked with McCredie in some
capacity and are indebted to him for his guidance and wisdom. The editors offer him this volume in token
of appreciation and affection, hoping that it will serve to illuminate larger issues as well as some less well-
known aspects of the archaeology of Samothrace that became more accessible thanks to his efforts and to
those of his collaborators for over half a century.
The editors wish to thank Irene Romano for her support, Brenda Phifer Schrobe and Mary-Elizabeth
Mitchell for their help, and Rachel Foulk and Susan Blevins for their assistance in assembling the manuscript.
The publication of this volume was made possible thanks to the sponsorship of Charles K. Williams, Alan
Boegehold and anonymous donors. We thank David Brown for agreeing to publish it in his series.
The papers follow the guidelines and abbreviations of Hesperia.
Olga Palagia and Bonna D. Wescoat
8/10/2019 Palagia Victory of Samothrace
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/palagia-victory-of-samothrace 7/20
Ioannis Akamatis
Department of Archaeology and the History of Art
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
GR-54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Kevin Clinton and Nora Dimitrova
Cornell University, Department of Classics
120 Goldwin Smith Hall, Ithaca, NY, 14853
[email protected]; [email protected]
Sheila Dillon
Department of Art, Art History and Visual Studies
Box 90764
Duke University
Durham, NC 27708-0764
Jasper Gaunt
Michael C. Carlos Museum
Emory University
Atlanta, GQ 30322
Stephen Koob
The Corning Museum of Glass
One Museum Way, Corning, NY 14830
Clemente Marconi
Institute of Fine Arts
1 E. 78th Street
New York, NY 10021
Dimitris Matsas
ΙΘ’ Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical AntiquitiesArchaeological Museum
GR-691 00 Komotini, Greece
Carol C. Mattusch
Department of History and Art History, 3G1
George Mason University
4400 University Drive
Fairfax, VA 22030–4444
Mary B. Moore
Professor of Art History, Emerita
Hunter College-CUNY
Olga Palagia
Department of Archaeology and Art History
The University of Athens
GR-157 84 Athens, Greece
Robert L. Pounder
Vassar College
Department of Classics
Poughkeepsie, NY 12604
Irene Bald Romano
American School of Classical Studies at Athens
6–8 Charlton Street
Princeton, NJ 08540
Susan I. Rotroff
Department of Classics
Campus Box 1050
Washington University in Saint Louis
Saint Louis, MO 63130
[email protected] Rubin
Institute of Fine Arts
1 E. 78th Street
New York, NY 10021
R. R. R. Smith
The Classics Centre, Oxford University
66 St. Giles’
Oxford, OX1 3LU
Amy A. Sowder Department of Art and Design, Art History, Art Education
Towson University
1000 York Road, Towson, MD 21252
Bonna D. Wescoat
Art History Department
Emory University
Atlanta, GA 30322
Mariët Westermann
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
140 East 62nd Street New York, NY 10065
Contributors
8/10/2019 Palagia Victory of Samothrace
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/palagia-victory-of-samothrace 8/20
10. The Victory of Samothrace and the Aftermath
of the Battle of Pydna
Olga Palagia
Visitors to the Archaeological Museum of Samothrace
can see a plaster cast of the Victory, bathed in sunlight
coming through the windows (Fig. 10.1). She wears
a transparent chiton without sleeves and a himation
that would have slipped off her body were it not kept
on by the force of the wind. Her windswept draperywas designed with the strong winds of Samothrace
in mind. The original is made of Parian marble and
stands on the prow of a grey marble warship (Figs
10.2–10.3). It is now set on top of a staircase in
the Louvre, giving the impression that she has just
alighted on her ship.1 The Museum arrangement takes
account of its ndspot on Samothrace. The statuewas excavated in 1863 by Charles Champoiseau,
French consul in Edirne when Samothrace formed
part of the Ottoman Empire. It came to light amidst
the remains of a curious rectangular structure (here p. 7, Fig. 3.3, no. 12; p. 26, Fig. 3.27) at the highest
spot of the Hellenistic theater, which dates from
around 200 B.C.2 The fragments of the statue were
removed to the Louvre in 1864 and restored in several
campaigns lasting until 1880. Champoiseau returned
to Samothrace in 1879 and again in 1891 in order
to fetch the blocks of the pedestal to Paris. Despite
his efforts, a few blocks of the base remained on the
island and are now on view outside the Samothrace
Museum. One of the blocks carries cuttings for the
attachment of the statue’s plinth (Fig. 10.4).3
The right hand of the Victory (Fig. 10.5) came
to light in 1950 during the excavations of Jean
Charbonneaux, curator of the Louvre, who obtained
special permission from the Greek government to
continue the investigations for further fragments of the
statue. Two ngers from the Austrian excavations ofthe 19th century that were kept in the Kunsthistorisches
Museum in Vienna joined the hand. In 1965 by decree
of the Greek parliament the hand was offered to the
1 Paris, Louvre Ma 2369. Hamiaux 1998, pp. 27–32; Knell 1995, g. 1. On the statue’s discovery and restoration, see Hamiaux 2001
and 2004.2 Knell 1995, pp. 69–81, gs 9–12; 60–64; Lehmann and McCredie1998, pp. 35, 91, g. 38.3 On the base, see Hamiaux 2006.
Figure 10.1. Plaster cast of Victory of Samothrace. Samothrace
Museum. Photo Olga Palagia.
8/10/2019 Palagia Victory of Samothrace
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/palagia-victory-of-samothrace 9/20
10. The Victory of Samothrace and the Aftermath of the Battle of Pydna 155
Louvre in exchange for a number of marbles from Samothrace including a slab of the dancers’ frieze from
the Hall of Choral Dancers.4
The Victory is missing her head, arms, upper part of the torso, left hand, right wing and feet. Marianne
Hamiaux’s technical study of the statue has established its original form and appearance.5 It is made of a
single marble block to which were attached the wings, carved separately, the right foot and a few billowing
drapery folds. The cord fastening the chiton high under the breasts is a restoration made of plaster, therefore its
existence is entirely conjectural. A photo of a plaster cast of the statue before restoration makes this absolutely
clear.6 In addition, the right wing is lost too. What we see on the statue today is a 19th century restoration,
also in plaster, modelled on the left wing and placed too close to the stump of the right upper arm. Hamiaux
reached the conclusion that the wind blew from the east (right), pushing the right wing towards the left.7 The
present impression of the Victory with wings wide open like a buttery is therefore not quite right, for thewings were closer together. The Victory’s himation aps against her right thigh and is about to collapse onthe ground. Her right prole is unnished (Fig. 10.2), it was therefore not meant to be seen. Her best view is
4 Hamiaux 1998, pp. 32–33; Hamiaux 2004, pp. 107–109, gs 73–77.5 Hamiaux 2004.6 Hamiaux 2004, gs 9–11, 13–15.7 Hamiaux 2004, pp. 95–107.
Figure 10.2. Victory of Samothrace. Paris, Louvre Ma 2369.
Photo Olga Palagia.
Figure 10.3. Ship of Victory of Samothrace. Paris, Louvre Ma
2369. Photo Olga Palagia.
Figure 10.4. Fragment of base of Victory of Samothrace.
Samothrace. Photo Olga Palagia.
8/10/2019 Palagia Victory of Samothrace
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/palagia-victory-of-samothrace 10/20
156 Olga Palagia
in three quarter view from her proper left (Fig. 10.1). A ribbon was tentatively restored in the right hand butthe palm is smooth and may have held nothing (Fig. 10.5).
The motif of Nike standing on a ship’s prow rst appeared on the silver tetradrachms issued by DemetriosPoliorketes after the disastrous battle of Ipsos in 301 B.C. in order to remind his army of the victorious naval
battle off Salamis in Cyprus in 306.8 Demetrios’ Victory blows her trumpet, holding a ship’s mast ( stylis) in
her left hand. Her general similarity to the Victory of Samothrace has led to an association of the statue with
Demetrios and to an early dating to the beginning of the 3rd century.9 The Victory’s origins were alternatively
traced to Hellenistic Rhodes and its date lowered by about a century by comparison with of a rock-cut warship
dedication on the acropolis of Lindos on the island of Rhodes (Fig. 10.6).10 Its stern formed the background to
the portrait statue of Agesandros son of Mikion, who was honored by the Rhodians in the early 2nd century
B.C. The statue, which is now lost, was signed by the Rhodian sculptor Pythokritos, and was set up on a base
placed in front of the rock relief.11 The grey limestone of the acropolis of Lindos was compared to the grey
stone of the Victory’s pedestal, which was consequently identied as grey marble from the quarries of Lartos
near Lindos.12
The grey color with large white patches and the ne grain of the fragments of the Victory’s basenow in Samothrace (Fig. 10.4) are indeed compatible with Lartian marble, quarried in the area between Lartosand Lindos (Fig. 10.7). Lartian marble was used extensively on Rhodes in the Hellenistic and Roman periods
for the production of statue bases (Fig. 10.8) and architectural elements.13 It is therefore not impossible that
Lartian marble was carried to Samothrace for the creation of the Victory’s pedestal, particularly if the sculptor
was indeed Rhodian. The Rhodian source of the stone has entailed the attribution to a Rhodian sculptor and
more signicantly, to a Rhodian donor. The Victory of Samothrace was associated with the naval victory ofthe Rhodians over Antiochos the Great off Myonessos in 190 B.C.14 The Rhodian connection has persisted
to this day despite Ridgway’s efforts to point out the lack of ofcial contacts between the Rhodian state andSamothrace, and Knell’s attempt to associate the Victory with a general of the Roman Republic. 15 Hamiaux
recently questioned the statue’s association with Rhodes despite the provenance of the marble for its base. 16
The putative origin of the artist need not determine the ethnicity of the donor. Rhodian sculptors in theHellenistic period travelled extensively and seem to have produced works in a variety of styles.17 Rhodians
are thought to have participated in the carving of the Great Altar of Pegamon, commissioned by Eumenes
8 Green 1990, p. 30, g. 12; Mørkholm 1991, pp. 77–78, pl. X, 162; Knell 1995, p. 86, g. 66; Hamiaux 2001, g. 9.9 Smith 1991, pp. 77–79 with earlier references.10 Mark 1998 with earlier references.11 Lindos II, no. 169; Gabrielsen 1997, p. 88, pl. 5.12 Cf. Mark 1998, p. 157 with n. 3; Hamiaux 2006, p. 7 with n. 17, pp. 55–56, gs 35–39.13 The statue base of the dedication of Polykles son of Polykrates (Fig. 10.8) on the acropolis of Lindos is an example out of many:
Lindos II, no. 57. On Lartian marble and its employment for statue bases on Rhodes, cf. Merker 1973, p. 6. On the few sculptures
carved out of Lartian marble, see Hamiaux 2006, p. 55 n. 142.14 Mark 1998, pp. 157–158. See Hamiaux (2006, p. 52–55) on the history of the Rhodian connection and its problems.15 Ridgway 2000, pp. 150–156; Knell 1995, pp. 97–101.16 Hamiaux 2006, p. 56; Hamiaux 2007, 39–40.17 On present evidence we cannot distinguish a specic “Rhodian” style: cf. Mattusch 1998; Hamiaux 2006, p. 57 n. 151.
Figure 10.5. Right hand of Victory of Samothrace. Paris, Louvre.
Photo Olga Palagia.
Figure 10.6. Rock-cut ship and exedra. Lindos, acropolis. Photo
Olga Palagia.
8/10/2019 Palagia Victory of Samothrace
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/palagia-victory-of-samothrace 11/20
10. The Victory of Samothrace and the Aftermath of the Battle of Pydna 157
Figure 10.7. Quarry of Lartian marble. Near Lindos, Rhodes. Photo Olga Palagia.
Figure 10.8. Statue base dedicated by Polykles son of Polykrates. Lindos. Photo Olga Palagia.
8/10/2019 Palagia Victory of Samothrace
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/palagia-victory-of-samothrace 12/20
158 Olga Palagia
Figure 10.9. Left wing of Victory of Samothrace. Paris, Louvre Ma 2369. After M. Hamiaux, MonPiot 83, 2004, g. 25.
Figure 10.10. Victory from the Great Altar of Pergamon. Berlin, Pergamon-Museum. After E. Schmidt, The Great Altar of Pergamon
(London 1965) pl. 10.
8/10/2019 Palagia Victory of Samothrace
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/palagia-victory-of-samothrace 13/20
10. The Victory of Samothrace and the Aftermath of the Battle of Pydna 159
II of Pergamon.18 In addition, there is a historical reason why the Rhodian state could not have made such a
major state dedication in the sanctuary of the Great Gods in 190: Samothrace was under the political control
of the Macedonian king Philip V. A statue base of Philip V dedicated by the Macedonians to the Great Gods
(here p. 7, Fig. 3.5) testies to his inuence on the island.19
If the statue cannot be associated with the Rhodian state for historical reasons, we must seek its date on
the basis of style. The stylistic afnity of the Victory of Samothrace to the Great Altar of Zeus at Pergamonnow in Berlin is not in doubt; her date is more or less anchored to that of the Altar. 20 The modelling of her
wings (Fig. 10.9) is identical to the wings of gures from the Altar, for example those of Nike crowningAthena (Fig. 10.10). The centrifugal torsion arrested in mid career, the modelling of the naked body under
the transparent dress, and the draperies pushed against the body by the wind can be found in many guresof the Gigantomachy on the Great Altar. But the Victory’s greatest afnity is with the so-called Terme Rulerin Rome, who shows the same pose with the arrested centrifugal motion.21 Like the Victory, his weight rests
on the right leg, left foot drawn back. His head is also turned right. Only the position of his arms is reversed,
with the left arm raised, right lowered, whereas the Victory’s arms are the other way round. The ruler is now
identied with Attalos II of Pergamon and attributed to a Pergamene workshop, afliated to the Great Altarof Pergamon. Having established the Pergamene connection of the Victory, we must raise the question of
dating. Obviously she was more or less contemporary with the Great Altar of Zeus at Pergamon and can beattributed to one of its sculptors.
But what is the date of the Pergamon Altar? Its placement in the decade 190–180 B.C. was convenient
for those who wanted to associate the Victory of Samothrace with the naval victory of the Rhodians in 190.
However, the traditional chronology of the Altar has been revised downwards thanks to a fresh study of the
pottery from its foundations, which is now placed in the second quarter of the 2nd century B.C. The Altar isnow thought to have started in the reign of Eumenes II around 172 and to have been completed in that of his
brother, Attalos II, sometime around 156.22 The Victory’s date must be revised accordingly.
It has been suggested that the Victory standing on a ship’s prow implies victory at sea, the dedication
was therefore made by a great naval power. There is only a handful of comparable ship monuments in the
Hellenistic period and few provide enough information to illuminate their purpose. None can be proved to
have carried a statue of Nike. The Victory of Samothrace is so far unique. To begin with, the rock-cut shipmonument at Lindos (Fig. 10.6) shows a stern not a prow. It did not serve as a statue base, and did not
accompany a divine image but an honorary portrait statue. A large fragmentary marble ship’s prow at Lindos
served as the statue base of a naval commander, and two trierarchs are commemorated in the inscription,
which is dated to the mid 3rd century B.C.23 Another ship, of smaller scale, serving as a statue base in the
sanctuary of Asklepios at Epidauros (Fig. 10.11) from the late 4th century B.C. was made from the spoils
of war but there is no mention of a naval battle and the city making the dedication is not specied.24 The
foundations of a large ship monument of the 2nd century B.C. survive in the agora of Thasos (Fig. 10.12)
but there is no accompanying inscription.25
The best parallel to the Victory of Samothrace is offered by a ship monument in the agora of Cyrene,
showing a wingless female gure standing on a ship’s prow (Fig. 10.13). 26 Because of the remains of the
neck-guard of a helmet on her rear she has been tentatively identied with Athena.27
This monument is evenmore intriguing than the Victory of Samothrace because it bears no inscription explaining the occasion for the
18 On the possible Rhodian contribution to the sculpture of the Great Altar, see Merker 1973, p. 14.19 Lehmann 1998, pp. 106, 163, g. 80.20 Carpenter 1960, p. 203; Mark 1998, p. 157; Ridgway 2000, p. 151; Hamiaux 2007, pp. 43–44. On the Great Altar of Pergamon,
see now Queyrel 2005; Massa-Pairault 2007.21 Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano: Palazzo Massimo alle Terme 1049. Queyrel 2003, pp. 200–234, E1, pls 32–34: 170–160
B.C.22 The current position is summarized by De Luca and Radt 1999, pp. 120–125. Queyrel (2005, pp. 123–125) downdates the Altar
to the reign of Attalos II (158–138 B.C.). Massa-Pairault (2007, pp. 24–28) places the construction of the Altar within the reign of
Eumenes II (197–158 Β.C.)23 Lindos II, no. 88; L’Agorà di Cirene III,1,1981, pp. 62–64, ill. 4–5; Hamiaux 2006, p. 43, gs 48–49.24 IG IV 1180–1183; IG IV2 306D; Lehmann 1973, p. 193 n. 16, g. 8; L’Agorà di Cirene III,1 , pp. 60–62, ill. 1–3.25 L’Agorà di Cirene III,1, p. 66; Grandjean and Salviat 2000, p. 77.26 L’Agorà di Cirene III,1; Hamiaux 2006, p. 43, g. 47.27 L’Agorà di Cirene III,1, p. 110.
8/10/2019 Palagia Victory of Samothrace
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/palagia-victory-of-samothrace 14/20
160 Olga Palagia
dedication and there is no context pottery to help with dating. It was published in 1981 as a naval monument
of Ptolemy III and dated to the third quarter of the 3rd century B.C. 28 Ptolemy III married Berenike, daughter
of Magas of Cyrene, hence the connection with Cyrene. The style of the statue, however, does not bear out
a 3rd-century date. Its drapery and stance are close to a late Hellenistic Artemis from Delos, dating from the
1st century B.C.29 If the Cyrene monument also dates from the 1st century, it may be a dedication of one of
the generals of the Roman Republic, and the suggestion that it commemorates Pompey’s defeat of the pirates
in 67 B.C. is as good as any.30
From our brief survey of naval monuments we can safely say that their purposes varied: they could either
be honoring individuals or commemorating signicant naval events. The warship of the Victory of Samothraceoffers no help in specifying the donor or the occasion for the dedication.31 The ship’s prow may refer to a eet
but need not commemorate a naval battle seeing that it is set up in a sanctuary adjacent to a naval base. It is
too large for a dedication of a single individual. An entire eet or a state must be responsible for it. The islandhad its own eet, and Ridgway has in fact suggested that the monument was erected by the city of Samothraceto honor King Philip V of Macedon who controlled the island from ca. 200 until his death in 179.32
28 L’Agorà di Cirene III,1, pp. 78–80, 98, 132–134.29 Athens, National Museum 1829. Kaltsas 2002, no. 616; Kaltsas and Shapiro 2008, pp. 88–89, no. 35.30 Knell 1995, pp. 87–88, g. 67.31 On the ship, see Gabrielsen 1997, pp. 92–93; Hamiaux 2006, pp. 53–55.32 Ridgway 2000, p. 156.
Figure 10.12. Foundation of ship monument. Thasos, agora. Photo Margaret
Miles.
Figure 10.13. Ship monument of Cyrene. Photo
Hans R. Goette.
Figure 10.11. Ship monument of Epidauros. Photo Olga Palagia.
8/10/2019 Palagia Victory of Samothrace
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/palagia-victory-of-samothrace 15/20
10. The Victory of Samothrace and the Aftermath of the Battle of Pydna 161
We have seen, however, that Philip’s dates are probably too high for the statue, which is anchored to the
(revised) chronology of the Great Altar of Pergamon. Philip’s son and successor Perseus controlled Samothrace
from his accession in 179 until his defeat by the Romans at the battle of Pydna in 168.33 Perseus won no sea
battles and would have had no occasion for such a grandiose naval dedication. He nevertheless used the ship
motif on the coins he minted at Amphipolis, perhaps as an advertisement of his eet,34 and we must not forget
that Demetrios Poliorketes who issued the coins with Nike blowing a trumpet was his ancestor and founder
of his dynasty. Even if we assume that Perseus dedicated the Victory of Samothrace to honor his eet, theattribution of the statue to a Pergamene workshop is a drawback. Relations between Perseus and the Attalids
of Pergamon were strained at best, considering that Perseus was the suspected instigator of a murderous attack
on Eumenes II of Pergamon while he was visiting Delphi.35 The Attalid kingdom was a staunch supporter
and ally of Rome, ghting on the Roman side at the battle of Pydna. The employment of a sculptor of thePergamene School would therefore have come more naturally to the Romans than to Perseus.
After the collapse of the kingdom of Macedon in 168 B.C., the Romans took over Samothrace. Their
interest in the cult of the Great Gods was manifest already in the 3rd century B.C., when Claudius Marcellus
dedicated to the Great Gods of Samothrace part of the spoils from his capture of Syracuse (Plutarch, Life
of Marcellus, 30.4). The founder of Troy, Dardanos, came from Samothrace, and the Romans considered
themselves related to the Trojans by association with the Trojan hero, Aeneas.36
After his defeat in the battle of Pydna in 168 B.C., Perseus took refuge with family and fortune as a suppliant
in the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on Samothrace. He was followed there by the Roman eet. The eventsof his escape are narrated by Livy (45.5.1–6.11) and by Plutarch in his Life of Aemilius Paulus (26).37 After
he was betrayed by the Cretan captain who had agreed to carry him to safety in Thrace, and after most of his
family was captured by the Romans, Perseus surrendered himself to the praetor in command of the Roman
eet, Gnaeus Octavius. The Romans thus did not violate the sanctity of the sanctuary but persuaded theirenemy to give himself up of his own accord. The capture of Perseus put an end to the kingdom of Macedon,
and Macedonia became a Roman province. The Romans had every reason to celebrate the memorable occasion
of Perseus’ capture on the island which was as important as their victory at Pydna. Aemilius Paulus’ memorial
of his victory at Pydna was erected at Delphi in 167 utilizing an unnished monument of his adversary Perseus
(Plutarch, Life of Aemilius Paulus 28.4).38
The Victory of Samothrace may well be its pendant, dedicated bythe commander of the Roman eet, Gnaeus Octavius, to immortalize Perseus’ surrender on the island. Eventhough carved by a Greek, possibly Rhodian, sculptor of the Pergamene School, the Victory would thus be
a Roman monument, one of the earliest Roman monuments on Greek soil.39 A Roman connection was put
forward by Heiner Knell in 1995, drawing a parallel between the Victory of Samothrace, the Cyrene ship
monument, and Augustus’ coins issued in commemoration of his naval victory at Actium. He also pointed
to the similarity between the Victory’s location at the highest point of the theater on Samothrace and the
temple of Venus Genetrix erected at the top of the theater of Pompey in Rome.40 His dating of the Victory
of Samothrace to the 1st century B.C. is untenable for stylistic reasons but the Roman connection is more
than possible.
The Victory of Samothrace very likely had an impact on the ship monument of Cyrene. She may have
also inspired the iconography of the corner acroteria of the south side of the temple known as the Hieron ofSamothrace.41 The “Hieron” is dated to the second quarter of the 3rd century through the pottery contexts ofits foundations and the sculptures of the north pediment likely belong to its original phase.42 The acroteria,
33 On the reign of Perseus, see Hammond and Walbank 1988, pp. 490–559.34 Mørkholm 1991, p. 164, pl. XXXIX, 593–594.35 In 172 B.C.: Hammond and Walbank 1988, p. 499; Green 1990, pp. 427–428; Queyrel 2003, p. 139.36 Cf. Samothrace 1, nos. 55a–63.37 On these events, see also Samothrace 1, nos. 113–127.38 Delphi Museum. Hammond and Walbank 1988, pp. 613–617; Jacquemin 1999, p. 340, no. 348, p. 350, no. 424; Kolonia 2006, pp. 339–344.39 Carpenter (1960, p. 204) assumed that because the Victory of Samothrace was carved by a sculptor of the Pergamene School, the
donor was also Pergamene, and interpreted it as a memorial of the Pergamene eet that assisted the Romans against Perseus.40 Knell 1995, pp. 82–101, gs 68 (Augustus’ coin commemorating Actium), 77 (theater of Pompey).41 Samothrace 3,I, pp. 364–370, gs 317–326.42 Phyllis Lehmann’s low chronology of the pedimental sculpture of the “Hieron” is now revised upwards by Webb 1996, pp.
8/10/2019 Palagia Victory of Samothrace
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/palagia-victory-of-samothrace 16/20
162 Olga Palagia
however, seem to have been an afterthought.43 The
south side faces the theater and its acroteria would have
been visible from it. The excavations of the Institute of
Fine Arts in front of the southwest corner of the temple
brought to light a corner acroterion representing a life-
size Nike (Fig. 10.14).44 It is made of Parian marble
and is now in the Samothrace Museum. Fragments of a
similar gure, mainly bits of a wing (Fig. 10.15), cameto light at the southeast corner.45 These fragments are
now in the storerooms of the Samothrace Museum.
Both acroteria come from a destruction level dated to
the time of Emperor Augustus and probably fell victim
to an earthquake during his reign.The elongated limbs and high waist of the Victory
acroterion (Fig. 10.14) are unique in the sculpture ofSamothrace. Its style nds its closest parallel in the
gures of the frieze of the temple of Hekate at Lagina,in Caria, now in the Istanbul Museum, dating from the
last quarter of the 2nd century B.C.46 The Victory’s (Fig.
10.14) right hand is raised, supported by a strut on her
right shoulder. She must have held a long metallic rod
which was attached to her garment by means of a lump
of lead, still visible on the himation folded over her left
thigh. Her left forearm and hand were made separately
and attached by means of a tenon. The metallic rod held
across her body may have been a ship’s mast ( stylis),
a common attribute of maritime Victories.47 Similar
objects are held by Victories on coins of DemetriosPoliorketes and of Alexander the Great; the latter
commemorated the Athenian naval victory at Salamis
during the Persian Wars of the 5th century.48
The damaged Hellenistic acroteria of the south
side of the so-called Hieron were replaced with early
Roman imperial variants. An almost intact Roman Nike
was found in the 19th century Austrian excavations
and is now in Vienna.49 The inuence of the Victoryof Samothrace can be detected in another statue
associated with the “Hieron,” which was excavated by
the Austrians in front of the north facade of the temple(Fig. 10.16). Phyllis Lehmann attributed it to the north
pediment but it does not belong there because it is
too deep for the pediment oor.50 Homer Thompson
144–146; Palagia et al. 2009, p. 115.43 Webb 1996, p. 147.44 Samothrace 3, I, pp. 364–368, gs 317–324; Lehmann 1973, p. 463, pl. 113a; Webb 1996, g. 135.45 Samothrace 3, I, p. 370, SLA 49.490, 50.117, gs 325–326.46 Webb 1996, p. 147, gs 82–91. On the frieze of the Hekataion, see Baumeister 2007.47 On the Nike’s hands and attributes, see Palagia et al. 2009, pp. 115–116.48 Mørkholm 1991, pls I, 7, 8, 12 and X, 162, 170.49 Ephesos Museum I 680, Vienna. Samothrace 3, II, pp. 113–116, gs 431–433, 437; Oberleitner 1978, p. 132, no. 233, g. 115.50 Ephesos Museum I 345, Vienna. Samothrace 3, I, pp. 254–255, gs 213–214, 254; Oberleitner 1978, pp. 135–136, no. 240, g.121. The depth of the pediment oor is 47 cm, whereas the depth of the ying drapery at the rear of the statue is 65 cm: Palagia etal. 2009, p. 116.
Figure 10.14. Victory acroterion from the southwest corner of
the “Hieron” of Samothrace. Samothrace Museum. Photo OlgaPalagia.
8/10/2019 Palagia Victory of Samothrace
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/palagia-victory-of-samothrace 17/20
10. The Victory of Samothrace and the Aftermath of the Battle of Pydna 163
suggested that it may be the central acroterion of the
north side.51 It close stylistic afnity to the Victory ofSamothrace indicates a date in the late second quarterof the 2nd century B.C. If it was an acroterion, it more
likely belonged to one of the corners of the north side
of the “Hieron” and must have been made shortlyafter the dedication of the Victory, probably inspired
by her. We would thus have acroteria added to the
temple just before the mid 2nd century, in the late 2ndcentury, and in the period of Augustus. Reections ofthe Victory of Samothrace seem to be evident in all
of them. And this would be hardly surprising if the
Victory commemorated an important event in Roman
history since all extant acroteria of the “Hieron” datefrom the period of Roman domination of the island.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to James R. McCredie for introducing me to the magic of Samothrace, providing all facilities for the
study of material from the excavations of the Institute of Fine Arts, and for his generous hospitality and advice onall things Samothracian. My work in the sanctuary of the Great Gods was greatly facilitated by Dimitris Matsas
and Bonna Wescoat. The Victory of Samothrace provided the occasion for visits to Paris, Vienna and Rhodes, and
I thank Eugene Ladopoulos for his companionship and assistance at all times. Ira Mark kindly helped me locate
a Lartian marble quarry between Lartos and Lindos. Margaret Miles and Hans R. Goette generously provided photos of the Thasos and Cyrene ship monuments respectively. Early versions of this paper were presented at the
Archaeological Society of Athens, “La Sapienza” University in Rome and the Institute of Fine Arts in New York.
51 Thompson 1973, p. 229.
Figure 10.15. Wing fragment from Victory acroterion from the
southeast corner of the “Hieron” of Samothrace. SamothraceMuseum. Photo Olga Palagia.
Figure 10.16. Striding female statue from Samothrace. Vienna,
Ephesos Museum I 345. Photo Olga Palagia.
8/10/2019 Palagia Victory of Samothrace
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/palagia-victory-of-samothrace 18/20
164 Olga Palagia
References
L’Agorà di Cirene III,1 = A. L. Ermeti, L’Agorà di Cirene, Vol. III,1, Il monumento navale, Rome.
Baumeister, P. 2007. Der Fries des Hekateions von Lagina, Istanbul.
Carpenter, R. 1960. Greek Sculpture, Chicago.
De Luca, G. and W. Radt. 1999. Sondagen im Fundament des Grossen Altars. Pergamenische Forschungen 12,
Berlin.
Gabrielsen, V. 1997. The Naval Aristocracy of Hellenistic Rhodes, Aarhus.
Grandjean, Y. and F. Salviat, 2000. Guide de Thasos, Paris.
Green, P. 1990. Alexander to Actium, Berkeley and Los Angeles.
Hamiaux. M. 1998. Musée du Louvre. Les Sculptures grecques II, Paris.
Hamiaux, M. 2001. “La Victoire de Samothrace: découverte et restauration,” JSav Janvier-Juin, pp. 153–223.
Hamiaux, M. 2004. “La Victoire de Samothrace. Étude technique de la statue,” MonPiot 83, pp. 61–129.
Hamiaux, M. 2006. “La Victoire de Samothrace. Construction de la base et reconstitution,” MonPiot 85, pp. 5–60.
Hamiaux, M. 2007. La Victoire de Samothrace, Paris.
Hammond, N. G. L. and F. W. Walbank. 1988. A History of Macedonia III, Oxford.
Jacquemin, A. 1999. Offrandes monumentales à Delphes, Paris.
Kaltsas, N. 2002. Sculpture in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Los Angeles.
Kaltsas, N. and A. Shapiro. 2008. Worshipping Women. Ritual and Reality in Classical Athens , New York.Knell, H. 1995. Die Nike von Samothrake, Darmstadt.
Kolonia, R. 2006. Το Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Δελφών, Athens.
Lehmann, K. 1998. Samothrace, A Guide to the Excavations and Museum, 6th ed. rev. J. R. McCredie, Thessaloniki.
Lehmann, P. W. 1972. “Addendum to Samothrace, volume 3: the lateral akroteria,” Hesperia 41, pp. 463–465.
Lehmann, P. W. and K. Lehmann. 1973. Samothracian Refections, Princeton.
Lindos II = C. Blinkenberg, Lindos,Vol. II, Inscriptions, Copenhagen.
Mark, I. 1998. “The Victory of Samothrace,” in Regional Schools in Hellenistic Sculpture, ed. O. Palagia and W. Coulson,
Oxford, pp. 157–165.
Massa-Pairault, F.-H. 2007. La Gigantomachie de Pergame ou l’image du monde, BCH Supplement 50.
Mattusch, C. C. 1998. “Rhodian sculpture: a school, a style, or many workshops?” in Regional Schools in Hellenistic
Sculpture, ed. O. Palagia and W. Coulson, Oxford, pp. 149–156.
Merker, G. S. 1973. The Hellenistic Sculpture of Rhodes, Gothenburg.
Mørkholm, O. 1991. Early Hellenistic Coinage, Cambridge.
Oberleitner, W. 1978. Funde aus Ephesos und Samothrake, Vienna.
Palagia et al. 2009. O. Palagia, Y. Maniatis, E. Dotsika, D. Kavoussanaki, “New investigations of the pedimentalsculptures of the ‘Hieron’ of Samothrace: a preliminary report,” in ASMOSIA VII, ed. Y. Maniatis, BCH Supplement
51, pp 113–132.
Queyrel, F. 2003. Les Portraits des Attalides, Paris.
Queyrel, F. 2005. L’Autel de Pergame, Paris.
Ridgway, B. S. 2000. Hellenistic Sculpture II, Madison.
Samothrace 1 = N. Lewis, Samothrace, Excavations Conducted by the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University ,
Vol. 1, The Ancient Literary Sources, New York 1958.Samothrace 3 = P. W. Lehmann, Samothrace, Excavations Conducted by the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University,
Vol. 3, The Hieron, Princeton 1969.
Smith, R. R. R. 1991. Hellenistic Sculpture, London.Thompson, H. A. 1973. Review of Samothrace 3, Archaeology 26, pp. 228–229.
Webb, P. A. 1996. Hellenistic Architectural Sculpture, Madison.
8/10/2019 Palagia Victory of Samothrace
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/palagia-victory-of-samothrace 19/20
Colleagues and Students who worked with
James R. McCredie on Samothrace, 1962–2008
Greek Archaeological Service
Representatives
Evangelos Tsimpidi-Pentazos
Diamandis Triandaphyllos
Andreas Vavritsas
Dimitris MatsasChrysa Karadema-Matsa
Student Archaeologists
Herbert Abramson
Luisa Alcalá
Marta Ameri
Andrea Aronson
Sherine Badawi
Larissa Bailiff
V. Reagan Baydoun
Janer BelsonWilliam Berg III
Emma Benardete
Celia Bergoffen
Susan Blevins
Angeliki Bogiatji
Barbara Bohen
Polyxeni Bougia
Claire Brannon
Lisa Brody
Lilla Brownstone
Margot CampCarol Moon Cardon
Patrick Cardon
Sara Chan
Catherine Chesney
Ellen Davis
Andria Derstine
Sheila Dillon
Igenia Dionyssiadu
Jamieson Donati
Aruna D’Souza
Margaret Dubois
Eugene Dwyer
Jason Earle
Martha Easton
Susan Ebner
Erica Ehrenberg
Jean Evans
Holly Flora
Rachel Foulk Margaret Frazer
Sharon Gerstel
Laura Gadbery
Virginia Goodlett
Nancy Goeschel
Janet Grossman
Susan Handler
Erin Harrison
Erin Hayes
Jennifer Helvey
Genevieve HendricksSharon Herbert
Stephanie Herdrich
Sharon Herson
Keely Heuer
Megan Holloway
Heather Horton
Leslie Ike
Chrissoula Ioakimidou
Kira Jones
Veronica Kalas
Cindy Kang
Kathleen Kennedy
Evridike Kephalidou
Marjorie Kerins
Lauren Kinnee
Jaime Kleinman
Rachel Kousser
Karen Kurczynski
Michelle Liles
Rachel Kordonowy McGarry
Janis Mandrus
Minna Lee
Roberta LewisJane Lloyd
Alison Lonshein
Jennifer Loveman
Anthony Mangieri
Temily Mark-Weiner
Anna Beth Martin
Richard MasonAlexandre Miller
Kelly Moody
Linda Moore
Mary Moore
Elizabeth McGowan
Elizabeth O’Leary
Philip Oliver-Smith
Luisa Orto
Elizabeth Oustinoff
Maddalena Paggi
Jennifer Palinkas Nancy Patterson
AnnMarie Perl
Samuel Peterson
Olenka Pevny
Christopher Pfaff
Anne Phippen
Anna Piotrowska
Maggie Popkin
Daniel Roschnotti
Elena Quevedo
Stephen Rapp
Linda Roccos
Lucinda Scanlon
Katherine Schwab
Kathryn Smith
Amy Sowder
Antonina Teeter
Susan Terkhorn
Ashley Thomas
Mary Lee Thompson
Jennifer Udell
Jaimee Uhlenbrock
Julie van VoorhisCarol Ward
8/10/2019 Palagia Victory of Samothrace
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/palagia-victory-of-samothrace 20/20
242 Colleagues and Students
Meredith Watson
Mary Weaver
Katherine Welch
Juliet Wiersema
Hector Williams
Margaret Williams
Kathryn Wysocki
Hara Zerva
Architects
Charles Belson
Alfred Frazer
William Henderson
Martin Jones
John Kurtich
Nicholas Ohly
Stuart ShawS. Denys Spittle
Student Architects
Jessica Anderson
Olga Anguiera
Marshall Audin
Gilbert Cass
Thomas Cullins
Amy Barnett
Michael Beaman
Aron ChangRoger Chien
Shang-Wen Chiu
Andrea Day
Matthew Grant
Brian Hajar
Albert Hopper
Brian Jan
Yong Kim
Michelle Kinasiewicz
Jeanette Kuo
Ryan Leidner Raymond Listen
John Reid
Meredith Sattler
William Simmers
Leah Solk
Caitlin Swaim
Tetsuo Takemoto
Claire Zimmerman
Nathaniel Zuelske
Conservators
Margaret Holben Ellis
Triandaphyllos Kontogeorgis
Stephen Koob
Lawrence Majewski
Kent Severson
Michele Marincola
Student Conservators
Mark Abbe
Samantha Alderson
Shirley Alexander
Sarah Barack
Harriet Beaubien
Monica DiLisio Berry
Joan Bottkol
Melanie Brussat
John Campbell
Esther Chao
Sue Ann Chui
Kristi DahmRachel Danzing
Corey D’Augustine
Suzanne Davis
Jean Dommermuth
Aimée Ducey
Elise Effmann
Claire Kelly Finando
John Flotte
Rikke Foulke
Melissa Gardner
James GoodwinJames Greaves
Patricia Grifn
A. Diane Harvey
Elizabeth Hendrix
Anne Heywood
John Hirx
Sandhya Jain
Erin Jue
Kelly Keegan
Heather Lechtman
Norman Muller Winifred Murray
Lisa Nelson
Nina Owczarek
Lenora Paglia
Kathleen Paton
Jennifer Perry
Ann Seibert
Winstone Wells Sellin
Dylan Smith
Helen Spande
Eliza Spaulding
Erin Toomey
M. Brigitte Yeh
Kirsten Younger
Special Studies
Carmen Arnold-Biucchi
Phyllis Pray Bober
Kevin Clinton
Anastasia DinsmoorElsbeth Dusenbery
Laura Gadbery
Jasper Gaunt
Evelyn Harrison
Caroline Houser
Günter Kopcke
Phyllis Williams Lehmann
Elaine Loefer
Iris Love
Ira Mark
Craig Mauzy
Clemente Marconi
Mary Moore
Olga Palagia
Robert Pounder
Susan Rotroff
Georges Roux
Margaret Waggoner
Bonna Wescoat
Pot Proflers
Madelaine de Huszar
BullwinkelMary Dabney
Anne McCarthy
Leslie Simon
Priscilla Toland
Joannah Clapton Wilmerding
General Helpers
Ioannis Akamatis
Frederick Cohen
John Fischer
Abigail GreenF. Bailey Green
Hugh Green
Anne Henderson
Marian McCredie
Meredeth McCredie
Miles McCredie
Sara Ohly
Wendy Schoenfeld
Fredrica Wachsberger
Mark Winter
John Wood